Durban — The Parliamentary portfolio committee on police has vowed repurcussions for officers involved in rampant criminality and corruption.
The committee welcomed the arrest of a police officer in connection with a robbery and attempted murder in KwaZulu-Natal recently. The suspect had escaped during a shoot-out with police in Lindelani, Ntuzuma, on Sunday afternoon and was arrested Monday morning.
KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the suspect, a 38-year-old constable, stationed at KwaMashu police station, was located at a hospital north of Durban where he was being treated for a gunshot wound on his left arm.
Netshiunda said he would appear in court soon.
On Sunday afternoon, a police sergeant was among three suspected armed robbers who were shot and killed in a shoot-out with police in two separate incidents in Ntuzuma, Netshiunda said.
At least six suspects, some dressed in police uniform and others wearing pieces of police uniform, reportedly stormed into a store in Richmond on Sunday morning and held the shop owner and the staff at gunpoint, before robbing the victims of their firearms, an undisclosed amount of money and other items.
Netshiunda said police operationalised intelligence and the two vehicles spotted fleeing the crime scene were traced to a residence on Mgwenya Avenue in Lindelani.
“When the suspects realised the presence of the police, they opened fire as they ran out of the house. Two suspects were shot and fatally wounded at the scene. They were both found wearing police headdresses. One of them was also in possession of a police firearm and a police bulletproof vest. Another police bulletproof vest and a police raincoat were found inside the house. A vehicle belonging to a police officer, who had just reported off duty earlier in the morning from his night shift at KwaMashu police station, was found at the scene,” Netshiunda said.
“Police then received another intelligence about an injured police officer who was hiding inside a shack at Phindangene informal settlement in Ntuzuma B. When the police arrived at the scene, the police sergeant fired shots at the police officers and in a resultant shootout, he was shot and fatally wounded. He was found to be the owner of a police firearm which was found in possession of the slain suspect at the first crime scene, as well as the owner of the vehicle.”
Netshiunda said a manhunt is under way for the remaining suspects.
The house in which the suspects were found belongs to a known cash-in-transit robbery suspect who is out on bail. Investigations are also under way to establish if the police officer was involved in other robberies.
Committee chairperson Ian Cameron welcomed the quick action by South African Police Service (SAPS) officers in KZN that led to the arrest of one police officer and the killing of several other suspects, some of whom are members of the SAPS, for a robbery in Ntuzuma.
“The arrest of the SAPS member highlights the urgency needed to root out corrupt and criminal elements within the SAPS. It is unacceptable that some police officers are engaged in criminal activity despite being paid to enforce the law. The sooner these criminal elements are removed from the SAPS the better,” Cameron said.
He said it was concerning that one of the suspects used a state-issued firearm belonging to one of the suspects during the shoot-out.
He also said the fact that the officer provided SAPS uniforms to the other suspects underscored the complete disregard for the position entrusted to them as a law enforcement officer, the country’s laws and impunity for the code of conduct of the service.
Cameron also emphasised the importance of intelligence-led policing, collaboration with communities and private security to fight crime.
“The fact that the SAPS used intelligence information and community-shared information in response to the robbery points to the need to strengthen these relationships in efforts to fight crime,” Cameron said.
Meanwhile, on a shooting in uMlazi, Cameron said he is concerned by the brutal killing of six people in uMlazi township on Saturday.
“The scourge of murders in the country highlighted the concern with the proliferation of illegal firearms countrywide. The majority of murders are perpetrated using illegal firearms and the SAPS management must intensify operations aimed at removing these firearms from the streets,” Cameron said.
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